The developers of Pokémon Sword & Shield have talked about the removal of the National Dex in a recent interview and said that they have no regrets about cutting it, as they want to give people a deeper attachment to their Pokémon. The discourse surrounding Pokémon Sword & Shield has been dominated by the removal of the National Dex since E3 2019 when Junichi Masuda explained that not all Pokémon would be appearing in every mainline game going forward.
The exact number of Pokémon that will be appearing in Pokémon Sword & Shield has yet to be confirmed, but some of the Pokémon from the previous games will be cut. It’s not known which Pokémon will be cut in Pokémon Sword & Shield, but Masuda has confirmed that cut Pokémon can return in future Pokémon games and that their absence might only be temporary. There has been a backlash from the Pokémon fan community regarding the removal of the National Dex and the decision has soured the opinions of some toward the game.
The topic of the reaction to the National Dex was brought up in a recent interview with Masuda by VG247. Masuda discussed the internal reaction to the backlash and the reasoning behind the cut:
Pokémon Sword & Shield has been adding a lot of new content that would normally appease the longtime fans of the series, such as bizarre Gigantamax forms for classic Pokémon and new evolutions and regional variants for Farfetch’d, Ponyta, and Weezing. The announcements of these new additions that are steeped in nostalgia for Pokémon Red & Blue have all been overshadowed by the decision to remove the National Dex, which is seen as sacrilege by some fans.
“It’s not necessarily that it’s made us rethink things per se, but what we are always looking at for the future is what we can do to make the most interesting game possible and make a more enjoyable, richer experience for the fans. For example, when we add new moves and abilities we create a deeper experience for everyone to enjoy. This time around we can also give people a greater attachment to the Pokemon that are in the game, which is something we think is very important. So we definitely – we don’t have regrets about what we’ve done.”
There has been an expectation that Game Freak would reverse its decision to cut the National Dex and would add the missing Pokémon into the game through post-launch content, which would likely have diffused the controversy. The developers have stood their ground and not changed course on their decision to leave Pokémon out of Pokémon Sword & Shield. The question now is whether the choice to remove the National Dex will have a detrimental effect on the game’s sales, as Pokémon Sword & Shield are poised to be some of the biggest Nintendo Switch games of the year.
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Pokémon Sword & Shield will be released for the Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019.
Source: VG247
